Chapter 618 - 482: Man-Made Disaster?

If it’s human error, this matter will cause a huge uproar.

Who would dare to defy all propriety and commit such a heinous act?

Once this "pox epidemic" spreads, how many people will die, especially since even the original world with such advanced technology hasn’t developed a specific medicine for "smallpox"? They could only achieve immunity to smallpox through "vaccination" to prevent infection.

Let’s hope it isn’t so.

Since there are parts for two microscopes, Lin Miao naturally assembled both, leaving one at the Miao Manor and taking the other home.

With the experience of assembling the first one, the second took much less time, especially during debugging, which saved quite a bit of effort.

Lin Miao went to the isolation point again.

In the span of a day, seven or eight more cases have surfaced, all with symptoms of fever and back pain. Xia Zhu and the others used the medicine prescribed by Lin Miao and monitored the patients’ progress and reactions.

This is all first-hand information on studying this "pox epidemic."

These findings hold great significance for the treatment of other "epidemics."

Perhaps there will be more cases tomorrow, especially after isolation when there’s a period of outbreak, depending on the effectiveness of isolating close contacts.

As long as decisive actions are taken and isolation is swift, this outbreak period will be very short, and cases will gradually decrease until they are completely eliminated.

An epidemic cannot spread indefinitely; at a certain point, whether due to human intervention or some unknown force, it will hibernate or disappear temporarily.

"Xia Zhu, how much bezoar do we still have in the storage?"

"We still have some bezoar, all carefully collected over the past year." Xia Zhu said. She manages the Yongning Hall’s medical herb storage, so she’s naturally clear about how much bezoar is left.

"Bezoar wasn’t used in the past, so even if collected temporarily, procurement isn’t possible. But it’s a key ingredient in my treatment formula for the latter stages of the ’pox epidemic.’ At this stage, we need to gather as much as we can."

The women fell silent at these words.

With a formula but no available medicine, it’s really hard to make a meal without rice.

"Alright, I’ll think about using other herbs as substitutes; it’s the only way. You should go about your tasks and pay attention to your own protection."

On the other side, in the city, Su Mobai eventually agreed to Pei Jian’s suggestion. Cui Xiang and Deputy General Tie Lin weren’t fools either, understanding the terror of the "pox epidemic." If they couldn’t overcome the difficulties with Pei Jian, they’d have a hard time managing on their own.

Moreover, it would give Pei Jian a reason to shift the blame.

On the matter of the Marquis Lingyang’s case, there might have been disagreements, but in collaborating to fight against the "pox epidemic," the four agreed for the time being.

Pei Jian’s proposed epidemic prevention strategy was accepted in its entirety.

In addition, they remembered the person who proposed the specific strategy: Lin Miao, the six-grade Chengde Officer and Deputy Director of the Medical Bureau.

With two battalions of a thousand Yulin Guards supervising, the prefectural army of Dongshan Prefecture was daring enough to feign compliance while acting secretly. Pei Jian had already reorganized the prefectural army, arresting or eliminating those associated with the Marquis Lingyang. Those promoted were marginalized individuals.

Although the prefectural army had suffered a blow to their vitality and morale in the Xue Family Manor battle, after Pei Jian’s drastic restructuring, their demeanor completely changed from before.

Now this prefectural army was completely under Pei Jian, the prefect’s control, which gave him the confidence to issue the "street ban and isolation" order.

Before the street ban and isolation orders were issued, there was a one-day period for the public to procure necessities for the next ten days.

To prevent inflation of the prices of basic necessities, Pei Jian directly used the government granaries. Supplies like grain were provided without restriction, but only enough for ten days per purchase, and anyone caught inflating prices would be recorded.

In the autumn reckoning, Pei Jian would not be lenient.

Using government granaries requires authorization from the Imperial Envoy, as the envoy has the authority to handle emergencies. So long as the temporarily distributed supplies are returned to the granaries afterward, it shouldn’t be much of an issue.

If the emperor were to punish him for this, Su Mobai had already resolved to use it as an excuse to resign and return home.

After all, the emperor likely wouldn’t decapitate him for this, and how would officials and the people view him if he did?

What kind of note would the history books make of it?

The opinions at the courthouse were unified; the next step was to implement those decisions.

In a feudal society, there are always imperfect solutions, but sometimes simpler and more direct methods are more effective.

Focusing solely on "human interests" can be counterproductive; harming a few to benefit many is sometimes acceptable.

This is the cost of social governance.

No matter what you do, someone will be dissatisfied. The greatest demand in all of Dongshan now is to control the "pox epidemic" and save as many lives as possible.

Everything else must yield to this priority.

...

"Sister, come and take a look." Lin Miao called to Sun Youwei, inviting her to peer into the microscope to observe the microorganisms in the water.

Sun Youwei was curious, unsure of the purpose of the iron contraption Lin Miao had created. But when she saw the microorganisms on the slide in the water, she was startled.

She clearly saw Lin Miao simply drop a bit of pure water onto the crystal glass slide, without adding anything else.